Exciting Writing - Interviews with Authors

This section is pure self-indulgence. I set myself the very enviable task of interviewing some of my favourite up-and-coming authors, Thanks to the Internet, I am proud to call them my friends.

Kirk Patrick Haggerty

An expat American living in Germany, Kirk's book "How to Steal a Lion" was posted on Authonomy.com and landed on the Editor's Desk in April 2012. The book is a comic college crime caper, set in and around Munich's world-famous Oktoberfest. I'll say no more than that at the moment - after all, I'm here to encourage you to read it for yourselves. By the miracle of modern technology, I managed to secure an interview with Kirk about his writing life.

1. What first prompted you to start writing? I’ve been writing stories off and on since I was growing up in Los Angeles. I also did home movies and comedies on tape recorders. I wrote stories in class in elementary and junior high school and the teacher would read it out loud to the class. Bur as life kicked in I put it aside. It wasn’t until recently after my move to Germany that I began to resurrect this old hobby. 2. Do you have a writing ‘routine’, or do you just fit it in around your daily life?When I have an idea for a story I try to get the general idea down on paper ASAP. Then I write like crazy for a couple hours per day until the story is done. Then it takes weeks to re-write, polish and edit. Then I want friends and beta readers to look at it for feedback. So the cycle repeats again with more weeks of polishing, editing and re-writing. 3. Where do you usually write? I try to write at home, but only when the kids are away. 4. Do you plot your story before you start to write, or do you start and see where it takes you? Itry both. With short stories I write by the seat of my pants. With longer ones, I make sketches, mind maps and notes about what I want to produce. 5. Which writers do you enjoy reading?When I was young it was Tolkien and Jules Verne. Later it varied from Astrid Lindgren, Erich Kästner and Adrian Plass. I like a little bit of Stephen King. 6. Do you ever base your characters on people you know?Almost always - I’m so unoriginal! Practically every character in my stories has a reference to somebody I know or have at least met somewhere in my life.

7. How long did it take you to write “How to Steal a Lion”?I was with my son at the Oktoberfest in Munich in 2008 and noticed the Löwenbräu lion statue on top of a high tower. For some reason I thought to myself, “What would it be like if someone tried to steal that?” I put the thought aside and didn’t think about it until a year later, when I decided to try to write a general story. In January 2010 I placed it on Authonomy. People liked the idea but the story was weak. That’s when several writers gave me tips and suggestions for almost two years until it developed to where it is now. Some readers thought Lion was a type of “Ocean's Eleven” - I never saw the movie. If anything, “National Lampoon’s Animal House” popped into my mind on occasion while I wrote Lion.

8. Did you have to do a lot of research or did it all come from your imagination?I always try to research as much information as I can when I write a story. Google is my best friend, followed by readers who know things better than I do, including technical things, or how something is expressed in German or something to do with British culture, etc. 9. What has been the most helpful piece of advice you have received as a writer?If you have a dream - pursue it, no matter what. Keep writing - don’t be afraid of mistakes. Others are always out there to give you a helping hand. Encouragement from other writers was the fuel that kept me going.

10. Is there anyone who really inspires you as a writer?Hard question. Are you referring to another writer who inspires me? The so-called “greats” may have been great writers but weren’t always great people. My wife and kids inspire me in a different way. My siblings back in America inspire me too. The friends I meet up with inspire me as well. In the end faith in God gives me the best inspiration because it gives me hope in something greater than myself, greater than anybody else the world can offer. It also reminds me of my mortality; I can hand off something to people after I am long gone. Bach always wrote “sdg” at the end of all his musical works, (Solo Deo Gloria - all the glory goes to God). What a great example. That inspires me. I want to write “sdg” at the end of my books as well.

A big thank you to Kirk for being the first to respond to my request for an interview. This is a writer we can expect to see a lot more of in the future.

LATEST NEWS : If you would like to check out "How to Steal a Lion" - you can find it here (now published in paperback and Kindle formats by Taylor Street Publishing.)

Since this interview was published Kirk has been very busy indeed. His second novel "The Notorious Expat Wives" is available for Kindle at this link and his third, a thrilling Steampunk story "The Spymaster of Cologne" has just been released by Taylor Street for Kindle. The paperback will follow shortly. Get it here